| You are quite right, it has nothing to do with dictatorship. It does, though, have something to do with the attitude of the government in "winking" at such practices, or seeking to modify or suppress them, and therefore choosing an "individualist" approach over a "collectivizing" approach. It is not merely "the rule of law", but the tenor of the laws which sets a modern society apart. A truly modern society will try to restrict liberty of conscience, speech, and association as little a possible. It will be relatively lenient, and, in its proceedings, err on the side of caution, for example, by applying the judicial maxim "innocent until proven guilty". After all, totalitarian societies have lots of laws too, only they are unreasonable and oppressive. |
